Charles Lock Eastlake lived in Italy from 1816 to 1830, longer than any other British artist of his generation. There he created history paintings, genre scenes, and landscapes, including this view of the Celian Hill in southern Rome. From this vantage point, the artist could have seen the Coliseum slightly further to the left, but he focused the composition instead on a less conspicuous cluster of churches, exploring the warm colors of the late afternoon sun along their stucco walls. Against this backdrop, the foreground hilltop becomes a small stage on which Eastlake poses not tourists, but a simple Italian peasant couple, reflecting the growing appeal of costume painting in this period.